Tom Merritt's Blog, page 1173

Tech News Today 615: Because Reasons

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Windows 8 gets launchy, Swiftkey gets Swypy, your smartphone gets dirty, and more.

Hosts: Scott Johnson

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Running time: 51:55

Tech History Today – Oct. 26

In 1936 – The first electric generator went into at Hoover Dam. About a month after President Roosevelt had dedicated the dam and tried to encourage people to call it the Boulder Dam.

In 1992 – Software deployment issues in CAD, the new ambulance dispatch system in London caused 30-45 deaths. Poor training, a memory leak and no load testing contributed to the failure.

In 2004 – Apple debuted the iPod photo, capable of displaying digital photographs and album art on a built-in color screen.

In 2012 – Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system went on sale, with its tile-based start screen.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech News Today 614: Facebook’s Mashed Potatoes

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Surface reviews are in, iPad Mini complaining begins, Facebook, Nintendo, LG — who’s making money, and more.

Hosts: Jeff Bakalar

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

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Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 51:43

Tech History Today – Oct. 25

In 1955 Tappan introduced the first microwave oven for home use. It sold for $1,295. Raytheon developed the Radarrange after engineer Percy LeBaron Spencer was working on an active radar set and accidentally melted a candy bar in his pocket.

In 1977 – VAX/VMS was born. At a shareholder meeting, DEC the Digital Equipment Corporation released VMS v1.0 the first version of what we later be called OpenVMS, along with the VAX 11/780 architecture which increased the PDP-11 address space.

In 2001 – Microsoft Windows XP hit retail shelves for the first time.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech History Today – Oct. 24

In 1861 – The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States was completed, ending the need for the Pony Express which had only been around for a year and a half. Pony unemployment skyrocketed.

In 1998 – NASA Launched Deep Space 1, it’s mission to seek out an asteroid, specifically, asteroid 9969 Braille. When that mission ended up being only partially successful, it went after Comet Borrelly where it got some choice information.

In 2003 – The Concorde made its last commercial flight, a victim of air traffic reductions and rising maintenance costs. 100 passengers, including actress Joan Collins, model Christie Brinkley, made the flight from New York to London in it’s usual three and a half hours. Flights have been slower ever since.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Tech News Today 613: Apple’s Little Announcement

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Apple announces new stuff, MIT solves mobile bandwidth, Iceland’s crowdsourced constitution, and more.

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

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Running time: 53:04

Tech News Today 612: Zuck’s Law

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Announcement week! iPad Mini, Google Nexus party, putting the win in Windows 8, and more.

Guest: Cali Lewis

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

Check out the full show notes for today’s episode.

We invite you to read, add to, and amend the wiki entry for this episode at wiki.twit.tv.

Thanks to Cachefly for the bandwidth for this show.

Running time: 54:15

Tech History Today – Oct. 23

In 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flew an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France. Some argue he should be credited with the first flight at all. But that’s a long controversy.

In 1995 – A federal judge for the first time authorized a wiretap of a computer network, leading to hacking charges against a young Argentinean for breaking into sensitive U.S. government networks.

In 2001 – Apple announced their new music player, the iPod. Apple used PortalPlayer’s reference platform and hired Pixo to design and implement the user interface. The iPod became the first massively successful digital music player.

Like Tech History? Purchase Tom Merritt’s Chronology of Tech History at Merritt’s Books site.

Frame Rate 98: Mega-pickles

Hosts: Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt

AMC vs Dish, Sony keeps 4K, Hulu Plus for Windows 8, YouTube nonprofit campaigns, and more.

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Running time: 1:05:44

So I’m moving to Los Angeles,… wait there’s a good reason!

This January I’ll be moving to Los Angeles. I’ll still host Tech News Today and Frame Rate. I’ll do them over Skype at least to start. I will also continue to host Sword and Laser. Audio is over Skype already and I’ll fly up to Petaluma to shoot Sword and Laser video once or twice a month. Which will give me a chance to be in studio for TNT!

Why would I do this? because my wife, Eileen Rivera, was offered an insanely awesome job at YouTube’s LA flagship studio. It’s a dream job for her. And thankfully, Leo Laporte at TWiT is supportive of my need to move and will allow me to continue to host from afar.

In fact, it will give TWiT a chance to make remote hosting better than it has been until now. We’re already talking about the best ways to set up our “LA Bureau”.

Eileen starts in November, but I won’t move until after the first of the year. Just in case the Mayans are right. No need to pay for the truck if there’s not going to be a planet in January you know.

Yes, this will affect the dynamic of TNT slightly, but I think we’re good enough to accommodate it. Frame Rate shouldn’t change at all.

So all in all, I’m looking forward to the move and hopefully most of you who follow my stuff will hardly notice.

Except for my deep deep tan.

And implants.